Conflict: Denied Ops Hands-on

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Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

By Erik Brudvig

They say going through a war with someone creates a bond of brotherhood stronger than any other. We can't say whether this is true or not, but if Conflict: Denied Ops is a good example then we'd have to call shenanigans. After two men struggle against all odds, the first mission ends with one calling the other a name we can't repeat in print. If you must know, it has something to do with wet noodle-like male appendages and having sexual relations with maternal figures.

To be fair, Conflict: Denied Ops is not looking to recreate a realistic war. This is a guilty pleasure from start to finish. A spattering of foul language is tossed in to highlight the over the top action. It's a bit like Soldier of Fortune, only substitute explosive barrels for the gore effects. Aside from the structural elements, almost everything in the environment can be shot to bits and your enemies simply love to leave oil-filled items in convenient (for you) places. The game exists to let you shoot things in the face and blow stuff up and doesn't really pretend to be much else.

Boom.

There are a few design choices in Denied Ops that some people might find a bit limiting. The first is that the game is designed entirely around the long range/close combat dichotomy that the two characters' weapons of choice present. Graves has a sniper and Lang has an assault rifle. Each get new upgrades and weapon options as the game progresses, but you can't drop the gun you have and pick up another. What you start the mission with is what you'll close it out with. The only weapon management required is seeking out ammo dumps to refill your munitions.

The reason for this limited weapon selection is clear; when playing the single player game, the development team wants you to hotswap back and forth between the two heroes according to the situation. Each level we played had a series of interior levels designed for the assault rifle alongside open confrontations where the sniper can dominate. In our experience, though, you can tackle almost any situation on the normal difficulty without bothering to use the sniper rifle. That's a problem because you often forget about your partner and he tends to just sit in one place unless you constantly call for him to rally to your position.

Still, the shooting mechanics of Conflict: Denied Ops work just fine, as does the limited amount of vehicular combat. The game won't win any awards for its graphics, particularly the animations, but it does have a good amount of destructible environments and "next-gen" effects like heat warping what you see and HDR lighting. These manage to keep the game from looking completely outdated, even if it can't keep up with the huge budgets the blockbusters have.

It's cold out there.

We played through sections of the first three missions in our time with Denied Ops. The first we had seen before -- it takes place in a series of castle ruins with primarily close quarters combat before spilling out into a field and giving you access to a sweet armored vehicle. Once you complete this mission, Graves gains access to a camera scope and Lang is awarded with a rocket launcher. From there, the intel you recovered opens up two missions for you to choose from. One goes north to a whaling outpost within the Arctic Circle. The other brings you to Rwanda for some urban warfare. Each of the first three environments looks totally distinct, which kept things interesting so far.

Like most games designed around two buddies at war, how well Denied Ops plays co-operatively will ultimately determine its worth. Unfortunately, we haven't had the chance to check this or the multiplayer features out yet. That time should come soon enough as the game is due out early next year.